How To Teach A Child’s Prayer

Children can have the same closeness and connection with God as adult believers. Just as adults run to God in prayer in difficult times, praise and thank God in seasons of rejoicing, adore and worship God for who He is, and pray to God to further their spiritual walks, children can do the same if we teach them. Though their way may look a little different from ours depending on their age, children can emulate us and pray with the same heart as we do. In the end, it is not about the eloquence of the words we use for prayer but the state of our hearts. A child’s simple prayer, born out of love, worship, and sincerity before the Lord, is sweeter to the Lord’s ear than a well-crafted prayer made by an adult without heart.

Father in heaven, give us as the older generation the heart to disciple and teach young kids to seek You wholeheartedly and pray to You intimately. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Teaching the Younger Generation

Teaching children how to pray is ultimately part of the biblical mandate to disciple the younger generation to be men and women who know the Lord. While this responsibility indeed falls primarily on their parents, there are circumstances where any older believer can have the opportunity to disciple children. For example, if a believer volunteers as a Sunday school teacher, he or she will surely be in a position to teach children how to pray. A believer may also specifically minister to children in the form of children’s Bible study, by reaching out to orphanages, and so on.

Why is it essential to disciple the younger generation? To neglect doing so brings severe repercussions to society. In Judges 2:10–13, we are shown that the generation who rose after Joshua did not know the Lord like Joshua and his generation did. This led them to turn away from God and caused many problems within their society. 

As believers, we have the opportunity to teach the next generation about who God is, what He is like, and what the Gospel is. As we do so, we are shaping the future leaders of our society. Among the next generation come our future business people, professionals, lawyers, doctors, politicians, farmers, skilled workers, parents, and more. Hence, we must bring them up in the Lord’s instruction and help them become men and women who fear the LORD (Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.; 

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.).

Part of discipling children to become boys and girls who love the Lord and follow Christ is teaching them how to pray. Remember that, as children, the way they pray is significantly different from how adults do. However, that does not mean they can’t pray with the same heart as us.

Teaching Children How to Pray the Simple Way

When it comes to teaching children how to pray, simplicity is key. Focus on keeping your lessons simple and understandable for children without overly reducing the important truths of the Bible. How can you do that, exactly? Turning to the Scriptures is the best way. For example, let’s say you want to teach a child to be grateful to God, as shown in 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18. You can simplify it by teaching them to always thank God, in good times or bad. Teach the child just the key truth: thanking God in whatever circumstance. This keeps the lesson comprehensible and straightforward. You can then show the child how to pray and ask them to repeat after you.

Dear God, even if I am sad, I thank You for all the blessings that You have given me. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Let’s say you are using Psalm 56:3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee., which talks about placing one’s trust in God when afraid. You can simply teach the child to trust God or go to Him if he or she is afraid. When put into prayer, it looks like this:

Dear God, I come to You because I am afraid. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Though the prayer above may sound extremely simple, it already incorporates intimacy as the child runs to his or her Father in heaven when fearful.When teaching a child’s prayer, the most important thing to remember is that the goal is not to teach them what words to say but rather the heart behind the prayer. That is why we use the Bible for whatever virtue we wish to teach. We can use passages about trusting God to teach them the heart of relying on Him, passages about giving thanks to God to teach them about praying from a grateful heart, and so on. Since it is the heart that we primarily teach, we need the Holy Spirit for this kind of ministry. Whether we’re discipling an adult or child, only the Holy Spirit can transform hearts.